Sales Wolf Blog

Chris Young

Chris is the founder of The Rainmaker Group (established in 2000).
The Rainmaker Group uses an advanced "Moneyball Approach" to help Clients select "wolf class" salespeople that scare the hell out of the competition.
People and numbers fascinate Chris. Over the last decade, he has fine-tuned the "Rainmaker Talent Selection Algorithm" to identify future performers. His work has dramatically-improved the productivity and profitability of many companies.

Recent Posts

You are a working sales manager. Your salespeople see you in the trenches right by their side. You hustle and grind with them. You are flexible and perhaps even benevolent.

You have their backs perhaps even to the point where you let it slide when they don't use that expensive CRM software very much (or at all) or make the calls they should be making to deliver the quarter.

You remember that one time they slayed it and they remember how much you care.

But that is not what I mean by "sense care".

What I mean is, do your salespeople sense that you actually have meaningful standards that are non-negotiable?

Resilience - the ultimate sales performance turbocharger.

Salespeople with resilience achieve greater and more consistent periods of sales performance than those without.

Resilience defined.

American Psychological Association defines resilience as: The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress -- such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences.

"Over the last fifteen years, leadership programming has dominated training programs, bestseller lists and conference agendas. No one really wants to write or talk about management, as it lacks the allure of helping others become leaders...

But still, there's something eating away at me: Are we neglecting to train managers on what it takes to manage? Name a best selling book you've read on it lately. How about a general session keynote at a conference on management excellence?"

Eurich offers sage advice that you must hear. Stop what you are doing and focus on her words. She shares:

"I am always amazed at how surprised some executives are when star performers leave. Smart executives understand that since their superstars are being actively recruited, they must keep tabs on how they’re doing. You can’t be so removed from their day-to-day reality that it’s a surprise when you learn that they weren’t happy. Also, their resignation letter is not a signal to negotiate. At that point, you’ve already lost them. For your best employees, you have to stay involved in their world. Conduct, or ask their manager to conduct, regular “stay interviews” that head off any retention issues as they arise."

My first 100 sales hires sucked

Do you ever recall the past and remember things better than they really were? I like to think I was 40 percent successful in my early days of hiring salespeople, which is not great... but it was likely closer to 15 percent.

I was horrible.

One early sales-hire seemingly showed a lot of promise. I thought I did my homework on him. I scrutinized his past work history. When I checked his references, they passed him off as a gladiator. When I flew out to meet him, he said all the right things. He had past sales experience that appeared strong.

Was I ever wrong. The first sign was when I could hear his children in the background on a conference call with a Prospect. Can you hear "Twilight Zone" music playing loudly like I can right now?

I have been following Keenan for some time. I get what I believe he is ultimately trying to say... "The best expect to win every deal that creates substantial value for the buyer and walk away from everyone that doesn't."

But how he gets to that point concerns me. Keenan argues that salespeople are not supposed to win every sale and if that is the attitude they have in selling, as a manager or as a sales person, they are a "shitty" salesperson.